Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1887-07-30
THE + WON AN.
HOW CAPITALISM DEGRADES
THE SEX.
Examples in England and America.
Forced to Sell Herself The Slave
of II Slave and the Toy of Il
Slave Owner Social.
ism 10 Libcrate.

The precarIous position Of woman
IN society has been recently illstra-
ted in the arrest of a respectable
woman, Miss Cass, in the streets of
London, for no other reason than
that human bloodhound, II police
man, suspected that she was not yir-
tuous This case was brought be-
fore Parliament.
In the City of Now Haven a poor
woman was arrested in her own
apartments while she WAS about to
write II letter to her husband and
had asked n friend to take the same
to the postoilico. In this case two
policemen broke in and arrested
both parties.
There was no discriminating cvi-
dcncc in either the London case or
the one IN New Haven. Simply the
alleged suspicious of the filthy police
hounds.
The London Justice, commenting
upon the case of Miss Cass and the
unfortunate women employed at the
mines in England, says:
"'The arrest of Miss Cass in Re-
gent street has been quite the ques-
ton Of The day, and as % popoular
sensation has fairly cell lipsed the ,Ju-
blec, and almost oblitcrated all
traces of the latter from the public
mind. OF course this case is only
one among hundreds of others to
which public attention is never di-
rccted, but it is II strange coincidence
| that it should have formed the sub
| lect of Parliamentary debate so soon
after the question of the employment
of women at the pit brow had been
discussed. TO many people probably
the two things have no connection.
Nevertheless, they each bear on one
Of the two phases Of II most import
ant question, a social problem which
has its solution in Socialism, but
which only Socialism can solve,
namely the present unsatisfactory
position Of woman. The employment
of women in or about coal pits or
any such places represents the econ
omic degradation of women, their
enslavement to the capitalist for his
profit; the Regent street incident
calls attention to the moral dcgrada-
ton Of woman which a natural and
inevitable result of her economic
slavery. In this as in every other
connection the moral are based upon
the economic conditions. Under
Capitalism u woman is forced to sell
herself in any case, whether it be in
the factory to increase her owners
profit or IN the street to crafty his
lust. Nor is she always, or indeed
generally, free TO choose. In most
cases only one Of these two courses
is open TO her rs an alternative TO
starvation. Nor is there so much to
choose between the two courses rs
may at first sight be imagined. The
one occupation frequently involves
prostitution M much as the other.
If II woman lets herself out to per
form hateful and degrading labor,
simply in order to live, aud without
any regard to the utility of tho,la-
Dor she performs, this is prostitu-
ton only differing in kind from that
which ia commonly regarded as such.
Besides the one is frequently supple
mented by the other.
"Neither man nor woman is free
under present conditions to choose
his or her own employment. They
are only allowed to work when their
work is IA source of profit to the ex-
plotting class. Whenever women
are employed therefore it is only
where their labor is cheaper than
that of men, without the slightest
regard being given 10 their fitness or
unftness for the particular occupa-
ton in which they are engaged.
There are plenty of departments in
which women might advantageously